Fraud suspect takes his own life prior to trial

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Dean Grant, a former Milledgeville financial planner, was found dead inside of a Greene County hotel room this morning, Baldwin2k News has learned.

The cause of death was ruled as a suicide by hanging.

Grant originally was arrested in February 2019 and charged with 10 counts of insurance fraud, 10 counts of felony theft by taking, two counts of trafficking of an elder person, as well as one count of first degree forgery. All totaled, at that time, Grant was accused of defrauding former clients out of roughly $1.375 million.

Grant was released on a $750,000 bond the month after his arrest.

He was scheduled to go to trial for fraud later this month.

At the time, the daughter of two of the victims described in an interview how the scheme worked. The woman said that her parents, now deceased, thought that they were signing up for an annuity through Grant's business. Instead of writing the check out to “New York Life,” however, the woman said that her parents wrote the check out to "Dean Grant Management." This, in turn, allowed Grant to turn around and write himself personal checks, while never investing the money.

At the time of his arrest, Grant was living and working in suburban Atlanta, where he relocated from Milledgeville several years ago.